Nehemiah 3:15

But the gate of the fountain R.V. And the fountain gate. See Nehemiah 2:14. According to the old view, Nehemiah's description here passes over a considerable space (nearly half a mile in straight line) between the -dung gate" and the -fountain gate." The omission is capable of being explained as due either to the omission of certain details, cf. Nehemiah 3:11, or to the fact that the precipitous nature of the ground rendered little work necessary upon the southern wall. But it can hardly be accidental that a similar omission has to be understood in the other description of the wall's circuit (ch. Nehemiah 12:31; Nehemiah 12:37). It seems reasonable to incline to the recent suggestion, that, -the valley" of Nehemiah 3:13, being the Tyropœon, the circuit of the fortification wall did not include the Western Hill, but ran directly S. down the E. side of -the valley" as far as -the dung gate", when it began to deflect eastward.

Shallun The A.V. (1611) spelling -Shallum" is perhaps due to Nehemiah 3:12.

the ruler of part of Mizpah R.V. the ruler of the district of Mizpah. A distinction is drawn between the town of Mizpah and the adjacent district. Cf. -the district of Jerusalem," Nehemiah 3:9; Nehemiah 3:12. -The ruler of Mizpah" itself is mentioned in Nehemiah 3:19. See also on Nehemiah 3:7.

covered it The word so rendered does not occur elsewhere in the Bible. The LXX. renders ἐστέγασεν. It seems to correspond to the expression -laid the beams thereof" in Nehemiah 3:3; Nehemiah 3:6.

and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden R.V. And the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden. Marg. -In Isaiah 8:6, Shiloah". On Siloam (Birket Silwân), cf. John 9:7. -The pool of Shelah," or of -leading," is fed by a subterranean channel leading from the Virgin's Spring, distant 1708 feet, through the Ophel rock. The connexion was discovered by Sir Charles Warren. The tunnel is a remarkable piece of engineering. On the very ancient inscription describing its construction which was found in 1880, see Sayce's Fresh Lights.

The pool here mentioned is probably the same as the lower pool, the modern -Birket el Hamra." The water from the pool flowed through -the king's garden." The old city wall extended much further south than the modern city. The pool was formed by a heavy dam of masonry, probably part of the city wall. -The king's garden" is mentioned also in 2 Kings 25:4; Jeremiah 39:4; Jeremiah 52:7. We cannot conclude for certain from this verse that it was included within the walls. But the water supply of the town depending largely upon the pool, the pool was probably enclosed by the wall. The double walls mentioned in 2 Kings 25:4 probably protected both pool and gardens.

and unto the stairs, &c. R.V. even unto the stairs, &c. These -stairs" mark the limit of Shallum's work in a northerly direction. The -stairs" were the steps ascending the steep declivity of the -Ophel" or southern spur of Mt. Zion, on the eastern side of the city, and leading to the -water gate" mentioned in Nehemiah 8:1; Nehemiah 8:16, above -the house of David" (see Nehemiah 12:37). See Sayce, p. 87. -Remains of these stairs have been discovered by Schick and Guthe a little to the east of the Pool of Siloam, as well as a little to the south of the Virgin's Spring (but within the line of the old wall), so that they must have run up the eastern slope of Zion, and ended not very far from the square in front of the watergate."

from the city of David The -city of David" was the name given to the fortress captured by David, known as Zion. Its locality has been much disputed. (1) General tradition has identified it with the southern extremity of the western hill; (2) recently Conder and Warren have assigned it to the northern elevated portion of the same hill; (3) there is, however, good reason for identifying it with -the Temple hill." This last view is favoured by the language of the O. T. associating Zion with the dwelling or Temple of Jehovah. The present context almost conclusively proves that the -city of David" lay on the eastern or Temple Hill.